People often buy old houses because they love the quality materials and period details. Fixtures, doors, trim, and hardware can all serve as selling points as one considers buying an older home. From that perspective, efforts to update an older house are often viewed as harmful, especially when the remodeling work can't be reversed. Countless French windows, pocket doors, swinging doors, light fixtures, mantels, tiles, and trim have been lost to time in the name of modern "upgrades". The saying "It's only original once" speaks to the precarity of maintaining a house in its initial state. Still, in the history of any 100 year old house, remodeling happens. It's a rare house that can remain completely unmolested over decades and generations. And sometimes, as we discovered at the Akron almost-mansion, the remodeling efforts become part of the house's story. That's what we found in the pink, first floor powder room. The almost-mansion was built in 1...
It's spring in Akron and things at the Akron almost-mansion are (mostly) moving forward. In my last update on this project I alluded to the fact that we're spending every weekend at the house attending to the business of patching, prepping, priming, and painting. Well, we're still doing that, one room at a time, and actually starting to see some progress. Three rooms are pictured through two doorways. One doorway is arched and the next is rectangular. The closest room is painted yellow. The next room is tangerine. The last room is a kitchen with blue-grey floors. My wife has determined that this house is going to be cheerful, bright, and full of whimsy. I support that initiative and will point out that those efforts begin with paint selection. While I wouldn't go so far as to say we're selecting colors based on name alone, it's nice when the moniker fits the theme. Here you can see we chose Optimistic Yellow (Sherwin Williams) for the dining room, and Cheerful ...